Bakery brings South American culture, comfort food to East Texas

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - Two women are shaking things up by bringing their passion for Latin food to East Texas.

“That’s amazing, when you see their eyes, like, ‘ahh, that’s my home, I remember my mom,’ and all that,” said co-founder of Lemon Yellow Latin Bites, Tahiti Perez.

“It’s everything,” said co-founder, Cris Berlingeri.

Perez and Berlingeri met each other after moving to Tyler. Perez migrated from Venezuela and Berlingeri’s husband is Venezuelan, so they formed a relationship around the food they love.

“She’s like, ‘Oh I love your baked goods,’ and I’m like, ‘I love your food, I’ve always wanted to have a bakery.’ ‘Oh me too!’ And then we’re like, ‘Let’s do this,’” said Berlingeri.

“And we are here,” said Perez.

“And here we are,” said Berlingeri.

Berlingeri said when someone moves away from their country to America, they leave behind their home, family and friends, and often their culture.

She hopes through food like empanadas, arepas and lemon crunch bars to bring some of that South American culture to East Texas.

“When you can come into a place and just with one bite just transport you to home and see their expressions on their faces and them saying that to you, ‘thank you, because this was just like being in my house where I grew up,’’ said Berlingeri. “There’s just - I’m getting goosebumps right now - there’s just nothing like that.”

She said their food brings the world together.

Lemon Yellow Latin Bites opened December 2 with a grand opening coming soon. Visit their website or Instagram page to learn more.

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